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Our statement on the Brexit deal

The Withdrawal Agreement negotiated by the UK government doesn't pass the Labour Party’s six Brexit tests and, unbelievably so, it breaches the Prime Minister’s own red lines.

But, most importantly, it fails to protect citizens’ rights. Fellow Brits who live in other Member States will not be able to carry on with their lives in the same manner as before Brexit - a betrayal of the highest order. At the same time questions remain for nationals from the rest of the EU living and working in the UK.

This deal does not deliver on the now notorious promises made by the Leave campaign in 2016 - promises that influenced the referendum vote. It also fails to guarantee the long-term protection of the Good Friday Agreement, by only negotiating a backstop to the Irish border problem and not a real solution.

The vision Theresa May sets out for a future relationship with the EU is embarrassingly vague for a deal that has been in the works for more than two years. So much so that those voting in favour would be blindly signing up for more uncertainty for many years to come.

This government is in absolute chaos with both Remainers and Leavers critical. If the Prime Minister’s own chief Brexit negotiator can’t get behind her deal, how could anyone else be expected to do so?

We support our Labour colleagues in Westminster in voting this deal down. It is a shameful negotiating failure by this Tory government and a real danger to the future of our country.